Compelled (Vampires in America #10.5) (8 page)

“You mean from Briley, right?”

Cyn stifled a laugh. “Stop that. Go.” She waited until Elke’s pale blond head was out of sight behind a big black truck with huge tires, then unbuttoned the top three buttons of her Henley-style shirt and knocked on Briley’s door.

It took a while, but eventually she heard movement from inside the room, including the clear sound of a slide being racked on an automatic weapon. So Briley was armed. No great surprise there. She glanced over, but there was still no sign of Elke, which meant the female vamp probably hadn’t heard the gun noise. Otherwise, she’d be over here already, shoving Cyn out of the way.

The door opened a few inches, to the end of the chain lock, leaving a gap for Gary Briley to peer out at her. She could have slammed that door open if she’d had to, pulling the flimsy chain right out of the wood frame. But she was playing nice tonight, so she summoned her best pathetic smile.

“Hi, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I locked myself out and my cell phone’s—”

“Go see the manager,” he interrupted rudely.

Cyn managed to squeeze out a few tears. “I tried that,” she said pitifully. “But the manager’s gone on dinner break, and he won’t be back for nearly an hour. If I could just use your phone, I could call and maybe get his cell or something.”

Briley was looking her up and down, noting her skin-tight blue jeans, the generous cleavage displayed by her unbuttoned shirt, and hopefully her sad but eager expression. She wasn’t much worried anymore about the gun hidden under her jacket. He seemed quite taken with her visible attributes and didn’t seem interested in frisking her. At least not for weapons.
Ick
.

Briley gave her a final perusal, then grunted, and closed the door long enough to disengage the chain lock with a hollow rattle. The door opened, and he did another head-to-toe scan. “Have we met?” he asked, his head tilted to one side, his face scrunched into a puzzled look.

“I don’t think so,” Cyn replied. She’d been worried about this, that he might remember her from Hawaii. He wasn’t one of the guards she’d dealt with personally, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t caught sight of her before everything went to hell. “I’m sure I’d have remembered
,
” she said, almost choking on the flattery. But it worked. Briley stepped back in an implicit invitation, and Cyn gave him her most brilliant smile as she stepped into the room. “Thank you,” she said. “Not everyone would invite a stranger into their room. Not in this day and age.”

Briley gave a rough laugh. “I think I’m safe.”

That kind of pissed Cyn off. Did he think he was safe just because she was a woman? She’d show him exactly how unsafe . . . But before she could show him anything, she felt Raphael enter the room. She didn’t need to see the alarmed look on Briley’s face to know he was there. Raphael was a force of nature. He didn’t walk into a room, he displaced air, like a one-vampire storm system. She smiled as he came up behind her and didn’t stop until her back was against his chest, his hand on her hip. She’d known when she’d left him and Nick bickering in the coffee shop that he’d never let her walk into Briley’s room alone.

“Only a fool underestimates my Cyn,” Raphael informed Briley. And if they’d been somewhere else, she’d have given him a kiss for that vote of confidence. But kisses would wait. They had business to take care of right now, and the clock was ticking.

Nick and Juro filed in behind Raphael, and she glanced over at Briley, gauging his response. His face was hard with anger as his room was suddenly filled with dangerous people. “What the hell?” he swore, backing away as far as he could get, fear replacing outrage when Juro closed the door and positioned himself in front of it with his arms crossed. “Who are you people?” Briley demanded.

Raphael stepped past Cyn, his gaze fixed on Briley, his movement the lethal glide of a hunter, stalking his prey.

“You must remember me,” he crooned. “We were together in Hawaii.”

Briley shuddered at the first words from Raphael’s mouth, the sound itself enough to trigger the part of his human hindbrain that remembered dark nights spent shivering in caves while monsters roamed beneath the moonlight.

“I nuh, never—” he stuttered. “I never went back to that room,” he whispered. “I didn’t know you were there. None of us did until you were gone.”

“So you say.”

“It’s true.” His eyes went wide, and he gave Cyn an accusing glare. “You! I knew I’d seen your face before. You started it all with your sad story and killer bikini. Bitch.”

Raphael growled audibly, causing Briley to jerk back and stare at him. “You will watch your words when you speak to her, human. Your survival is not essential to my visit tonight.”

Briley paled. “We didn’t know,” he rasped. “That woman hired us through the company. We did the job when we got there, but we wanted nothing to do with her.”

“Mathilde,” Raphael supplied. “Her name was Mathilde, and you were right to fear her.”

Briley was foolish enough to see that as some kind of vindication. A reprieve. He relaxed visibly, drawing a deep breath. “I don’t know anything about her. I don’t know where she is.”

“Mathilde is no longer anyone’s concern. But then, you’re not hiding in this charming motel because you fear Mathilde, are you, Gary?” Raphael said kindly.

Briley blinked in surprise at the use of his name, but then his expression shut down. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Raphael
tsk
ed softly. “And here we were having such a good talk.” He must have done something vampy at that point, because an invisible force abruptly shoved Briley down and into a chair. His eyes practically bulged out of his head with terror when he struggled to escape and found that he couldn’t.

“What are you?” he gasped, staring from Raphael to Cyn, and then beyond her to Nick and Juro.

Raphael smiled slowly, letting his fangs slide into terrifying view. Briley opened his mouth to scream but could only choke wordlessly as Raphael took away his voice. Cyn frowned. Or maybe it was his air that had been taken away, since he was now turning a pretty shade of purple.

“Raphael,” Cyn said softly, even as Nick started forward behind her. She put out a hand to stop him at the same instant that Briley sucked in a harsh breath.

Raphael took a moment to swing his head around and aim a threatening glare at Nick. “I know my business, sorcerer.”

“Then, let’s get on with—” Nick started to argue, but it was Cyn who shut him down.

“You weren’t there in Hawaii, Nick,” she murmured. “I was. So be quiet.”

Nick gave a put-upon sigh, but didn’t say anything further.

“Your friend stole the manacles,” Raphael continued to Briley, his voice quiet, but filled with menace. “Or maybe you conspired together to steal them. But then you got greedy, so you killed him and sold them on your own, taking all the money for yourself.”

“We didn’t steal anything,” Briley insisted. “You broke free and that Mathilde woman never came back. Those handcuffs, or whatever you call them, were just lying there.”

Raphael huffed a laugh. “You object to being called a thief, but murderer is just fine?”

Briley looked away. “I wasn’t the one who killed him. All I did was recover the handcuffs after he was dead. They were half mine anyway.”

“You’re lying,” Raphael said flatly. Briley opened his mouth to protest, but Raphael continued. “But then, I don’t give a fuck whether you killed him or not. I know you sold the manacles, and I want to know who your buyer was.”

Briley was shaking his head in denial. “I don’t know who he is. The site is set up that way. He used a fake name like everyone else.”

“What did he look like?”

“We never met. He wired me the—” He screamed, or at least he tried to. What came out was a high-pitched squeak as Raphael clamped down on his air once again.

“You’re lying again. Now tell me what I want to know, or I’ll rip it from your screaming mind.”

He shook his head helplessly. “He’ll kill me if I tell you.”

Raphael raised an eyebrow. “What’s your point?”

Briley deflated, head hanging, his words a resigned mumble. “He called himself Frederick. An old dude with a British accent.”

“How much?”

For a moment, Cyn thought Briley would refuse to answer, and she wondered if the money was worth his life. Because, while Raphael might seem outwardly calm, she knew better. He was riding a fine fury that was just begging to be set free.

Briley finally seemed to sense his danger. “A hundred thousand dollars,” he admitted. “Cash.”

“A hundred thousand dollars in your pocket, and you’re staying in this dump?” Nick commented, then turned to Raphael. “We don’t need him anymore. I know Freddie. And you . . . ,” he added, speaking to Briley. “You’re lucky to be alive. Freddie’s not above killing to get what he wants.”

Briley’s alarmed gaze traveled from Raphael to Nick and back again. “Who
are
you people?” he asked again.

“Your worst nightmare,” Nick intoned, and Cyn turned to give him a disbelieving look. “What?” he asked. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

She shook her head slightly, then moved up to touch Raphael’s arm. “Let’s go,” she said quietly.

“He killed his partner,” Raphael reminded her.

“Not our problem.”

He turned to give her a quizzical look.

“I’ve taken care of it,” she said, meeting his eyes.

He stared at her a moment longer, then smiled slightly and said, “We’re leaving.”

Several things happened after that. First, Briley nearly fell out of his chair as Raphael suddenly released whatever hold he’d had on him. At the same moment, Juro stepped away from the door and yanked it open. Cool air rushed in, and out in the parking lot, the rest of Raphael’s guard snapped to attention. The three SUVs had been moved into place, and his guards now scrambled to provide a security barrier between the vehicles and the rest of the parking lot. Off to one side, Elke straightened to attention, her mouth turning up in a cynical half grin when she spied Cyn.

Raphael herded Cyn toward the exit with a hand against her lower back, while making sure to keep his body between her and Gary Briley. Cyn thought this was overkill. Briley was no threat to her or anyone else in their party. Sure, he’d killed his buddy—a crime for which she’d done her best to see that he paid, having sent all of the evidence she and Nick had separately gathered to the local police. Notwithstanding his recent felony, however, she didn’t think he was crazy enough to attack Raphael.

As they exited the room, Juro stepped over and opened the back door on the nearest SUV. Raphael started for the vehicle, still hustling Cyn ahead of him, but Nick’s voice stopped him.

“What now, vampire?”

Raphael waited until Cyn was safely inside the vehicle, before spinning to confront Nick. “You said you know this man.”

“Frederick Chapman. He’s a flunky, a front man for Isaac Marshall, who’s the real collector.”

“Where will we find Marshall?”

“He has a place in Florida, but his main estate is in Dobbs Ferry north of New York City. That’s where his collection is, and this time of year that’s where he’ll be.”

Raphael nodded his understanding. “Dobbs Ferry is a drivable distance from Manhattan. We’ll meet you there in two nights. My Cyn will send you the details.”

“We need to lock down Briley first. I don’t want him trying to cover his ass by warning Marshall, either directly or through Freddie.”

Raphael lifted his chin in Juro’s direction, then gave Nick an impatient look. “Done. Are we finished here? I’d rather leave before all of this activity brings unwanted attention.”

“Afraid of little blond vampire hunters named Buffy?” Nick half-joked.

But Raphael wasn’t amused. “No, the police,” he said coldly. “We’re leaving.”

He climbed into the SUV without another word. Cyn leaned over just before he shut the door in Nick’s face and called, “I’ll text you our address!”

She caught Nick’s grin and then the door closed.

“You two are going to drive me nuts,” she muttered. “You should both go home and let me deal with this alone.”

“In your dreams,” Raphael growled, pulling her away from the window and snapping her seatbelt on before sliding his arm around her. Up front, Juro gave the order for the driver to move out.

Cyn gave Raphael an amused look. “I bet you never used that phrase before you met me.”

“I never did a lot of things before I met you. I had a nice, peaceful life.”

She laughed. “You mean boring, I think.”

He smiled, then leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “I love you, my Cyn.”

“Love you, too, fang boy.” She was quiet a moment, then said, “Listen, as long as we’re going to be in Manhattan anyway, I might as well call Sarah and—”

“You’re not going shopping.”

“Why not?” she demanded.

“Because the last time you two went shopping, you were kidnapped.”

“
Pfft.
An aberration. And we escaped, didn’t we?”

“Yes, but I aged fifty years.”

“Only fifty? I think I’m worth at least a hundred.”

“You can shop as long as you go at night, and Elke goes with you.”

Cyn considered it. She didn’t really
need
his permission to do anything, but she doubted Sarah would go against Rajmund’s wishes on the matter, and Raj was certain to go along with Raphael and insist on a vampire guard. And, besides, things were tense with Christian consolidating his power and wrapping up the war in the South, not to mention whatever the hell was happening up in Canada with Sophia.

“Done,” she agreed. She was silent for a moment, then clapped her hands. “We’re going shopping!” she said, putting a little bounce into the words mostly to irritate him.

“
After
we’ve recovered these accursed manacles.”